The US television networks have ordered dozens of new pilots and amongst them is a super-sized portion of geek nuggets, each one hoping to find a place amongst the 2014/15 schedules. We've reached the time of year when we're starting to find out which ones have been successful (as I was prepping this item Gotham got the first full season order), so we thought it would be worth taking a look at some of the other geek gems that may go on to become our favourite shows in the years ahead.
Gotham
Let's start with the first successful pilot of this year, Gotham is coming to FOX (and most likely SKY in the UK). Gotham will focus on the early years of Commissioner James Gordon (Ben McKenzie), when he was just an idealistic rookie detective, and feature the rogues gallery of villains that made the city infamous. It's a show that we're certainly all looking forward to and always seemed like a shoo-in for full season pick up. It features a great cast too, co-starring alongside McKenzie are Donal Logue as Harvey Bullock, Jada Pinkett Smith as Fish Mooney, David Mazouz as young Bruce Wayne, Robin Lord Taylor as Oswald Cobblepot, Camren Bicondova as Selina Kyle, Erin Richards as Barbara Kean, Sean Pertwee as Alfred Pennyworth and Zabryna Guevara as Captain Essen.
Watch the full 2 minute cinematic trailer for Gotham.
The Flash
God bless The CW. I know they aren't exactly targeting their shows at my demographic but they've given us a fine selection of geektastic offerings over the last decade. From Charmed to Smallville, Supernatural to The 100, they sure love their genre shows. I could do without the vampire stuff, but each to their own.
Anyhow, The Flash seems a dead cert for a full season pick up. A spin-off show from my current favourite CW offering, Arrow, The Flash is based on characters published by DC Comics. We've already met scientist Barry Allen (Grant Gustin) when he guested on Arrow last year and seen the beginnings of his origin story. Basically he is given the power of super-speed after a freak accident that transforms him into the 'Fastest Man Alive'. If this doesn't arrive in the Autumn then I'll eat my hat.
UPDATE 8th May - No need for hat eating as THE CW has given a series order to The Flash. Good on 'em!
Supernatural: Bloodlines
Sticking with The CW and their new Supernatural spin-off. Supernatural: Bloodlines explores the clashing hunter and monster cultures of Chicago. Originally entitled Tribes but now re-badged to Bloodlines. My guess would be that the next season of Supernatural (it's tenth!) will likely be it's last, and The CW do not want to say goodbye to the popular franchise. With Supernatural: Bloodlines they have a platform for occasional appearances from established characters. If Bloodlines can fit in the schedule then we may just see it, possibly as a mid-season start/replacement.
UPDATE May 8th - The CW passed on this one, but say they would consider a different Supernatural spin-off in the future.
The Visitors
NBC have an interesting show called The Visitors in contention. Coming from Steven Spielberg's Amblin TV, in The Visitors it's a race against the clock to defeat an unseen alien enemy out to destroy the world using our most precious resource against us - cheese! (I made that up of course, but wouldn't that be great? I'd so watch a show with aliens using cheese to defeat us, wouldn't you?). Amongst the cast is Milo Ventimiglia from Heroes, and Barry Sloane, Aiden from Revenge - guess he's leaving Revenge then!
Babylon Fields
Another NBC offering and hoping to capitalize on the zombie craze is Babylon Fields. The dead are rising in Babylon, N.Y. Their newly regenerated bodies are healing faster and growing stronger than anyone else, leading to the suspicion that they might be the next step in human evolution. Interestingly, this was originally made for the 2007/8 TV season but failed to get a pick-up. In light of that zombie craze we mentioned it now seems like a good bet for series.
Forever
Over at ABC, their zombie style cash-in comes in the form of Forever. Dr. Henry Morgan (Ioan Gruffudd) is New York City's star medical examiner who studies the dead for a reason - (dum dum daaahhh) he is immortal(gasp!). With the help of Detective Jo Martinez (Alana De La Garza), Forever will peel back the layers of Henry's long, colorful life through their cases.
iZombie
One more zombie offering, and for my money the most interesting one on the table, is The CW's iZombie. Coming from Veronica Mars' Rob Thomas and Diane Ruggiero, and based on the DC Comics series. In iZombie a med student-turned-zombie (Rose McIver) takes a job in the coroner's office to gain access to the brains she must reluctantly eat to maintain her humanity, but what happens when she starts inheriting the corpse's memories? With the help of her medical-examiner boss (Rahul Kohli) and a police detective (Malcolm Goodwin), she solves homicide cases to quiet the disturbing voices in her head. If that isn't enough to get you excited then add the ever marvelous David Anders (Alias, 24, Heroes, Once Upon A Time) in to the mix and you've got a very promising series right there.
UPDATE 8th May - iZombie has been given a full series order by The CW.
Constantine
DC Comics certainly have their fair share of small screen adventures in production, and one more may well be headed to NBC. In Constantine (Matt Ryan), er, Constantine struggles with his faith as he is haunted by the sins of his past, but he is suddenly thrust into the role of defending humanity from the gathering forces of darkness. Batman Begins' David Goyer will executive-produce with Harold Perrineau (Lost) amongst the co-stars.
UPDATE 8th May - It's a good day for DC Comics fans. NBC just officially picked up Constantine, meaning all 4 DC comics adaptation (this, iZombie, Gotham and The Flash) have made it to series.
The Messengers
Another possibly interesting CW project comes in the form of The Messengers. When a mysterious object crashes to Earth, a group of seemingly unconnected strangers (why are they always seemingly unconnected?) die from the energy pulse, but then awaken to learn that they have been assigned the task of preventing the impending Apocalypse. Don't you just hate it when that happens? Totally spoils the weekend.
Tin Man
The last in our 10 geek shows to look out for is Tin Man, a psychological crime thriller hoping for a place on NBC's schedule. The show pairs a fugitive robot (Patrick Heusinger) accused of first-degree murder, and who may also hold the key to the future of human evolution, and his (its?) public defender forced to fight his case.
Honorary mention goes to Selfie
It's not exactly a geek themed show but it does feature Amy Pond herself, Karen Gillan, in the starring role. Up for contention on ABC this new comedy from Suburgatory creator Emily Kapnek is inspired by My Fair Lady. In Selfie a self-obsessed, twentysomething woman (Gillan) is the subject of a viral video made after a humiliating public breakup. When the video makes her an Internet celebrity for all the wrong reasons, she hires a marketing expert named Henry (John Cho) to help restore her image. It's great to see Karen Gillan doing so well after leaving Doctor Who, and I hope this goes to series.
UPDATE May 9th - ABC has picked up Selfie, read more here.
So, will you be watching any of them?
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